Every year the journalism students at De Soto High School compete in the Kansas Scholastic Press Association State competition.

This year, DHS had seven student journalists qualify in 11 entries for the State competition which was held on May 2 at the University of Kansas.

To get to State, students must place at Regionals, either first, second, third or receive an honorable mention.

This year, DHS had two first-place finishes. Senior Jordan Wolf took first in sports writing, and senior Kelsea Burns, as the returning State champion, got first in copy editing.

“It means a lot to me because Newspaper was my one consistent part of my high school experience. While most people have sports that they do, I had Newspaper,” Burns said. “The KSPA competition was just like any other athletic event. Placing first, to me, is no different than the baseball team placing first at State.”

DHS also had several medalists. Senior Emily Herrington took third place in editorial cartooning while sophomore Aneka Zarger  received an honorable mention. Burns also earned an honorable mention in editorial writing.

Overall, the team placed sixth out of 22 schools in the 3A/4A competition, missing fifth place by one point.

The seniors agree that these competitions are good to put on scholarship applications and resumes.

Wolf plans to attend KU next year and enter the journalism program, and believes that having the competition at KU was beneficial and important.

Last year, Herrington received an honorable mention at State in cartooning and was happy that she moved up a spot.

“It’s a really good resume builder because I’m going into graphic design and a lot of that is making illustrations and info graphics, especially having the competition at KU because that’s where I’m going next year. It really makes a difference,” Herrington said.

Zarger felt that having Herrington in the event too was beneficial for her.

“She was there to tell me how it went and what to expect and that was really nice because it made me more prepared overall and ready for next year,” Zarger said,

Herrington wants to influence the underclassmen so that they continue to participate in journalism.